tales from an ordinary world

1999-12-25

We had an understandably sedate Christmas, despite the fact that had he been home with us, Dad would've done his best to avoid being festive. We went to visit him again in the morning, which reminded me of last Christmas morning, where Dad, his mother and I had gone to visit Dad's father in the nursing home where he'd been bedridden for a few years. I didn't know then that it'd be the last time I'd see my grandfather - he died a couple of weeks later, in early-mid January...

So after our quiet lunch, I went for a walk up the hill towards the Police Academy, in between the old people's homes where there used to be BMX tracks, tadpoles, heaps of blackberry bushes and other untamed wilderness when I was a kid. I sat under the power lines, looked out to the west at the view (you could see one or two buildings of Monash Uni, and if you tried hard you could even see the city). A few stray flashes of lightning poked their way through the sky every now and then, and I contemplated the cyclic nature of life, amongst other things. First my grandfather, now my father. Next Christmas I suppose it'll be my turn to be in hospital...